|
Hey all!
I was just browsing a Massdrop deal for Ultra-Pro deck protectors (here's the linky if you're interested - I stand to gain nothing by sharing....) when a thought hit me.
Why not move the Powers section of the character cards to the back, and move the card section to the front? That way, when your character gains its role card, you can slip it in the same sleeve, covering the old powers section and avoiding both confusion and having to constantly flip two cards back and forth!
If you do that... you will be flipping it constantly during play to check skills and powers. With card feats on the back, you only worry about flipping to that side after the scenario is over.
I think what you are thinking of doing is putting a character card on a sleeve that is meant for 1 sided cards. I suggest just using clear sleeves for any double sided cards like character cards, ships, locations, scenarios, and adventures.
The way it's currently designed there's no card flipping unless you forget your favorite card type or how many of each card you have in your deck (I rarely do that personally).
I like it this way. I'm lazy.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If you have the resources, here is what I do.
Step 1. Scan your character cards (both sides) and role cards (both sides).
Step 2. Print you character cards (both sides), single sided, on card stock paper. I used 80 lb paper.
Step 3. Cut out both sides of the character cards, and glue them together. You now have a character card you can write on.
Step 4. Use photo editing software to crop the top of the role card off and combine with your character card image by placing the cropped role card image over the powers section of the character card. (Just like you would in real life.)
Step 5. Print your combined character and role card and also print the card side of the character cards inside a rectangle as large as the combined card. Again on card stock.
Step 6. Cut them both out and glue them together.
I've done this for every single character. That way whoever plays with me gets their own copy of the character and their own copy of their "roled" character to write on and keep as a memory of our adventure together. I've "fancied" mine up a bit by removing the black border from the scans and replacing it with a squared off black border (it is easier to not cut rounded corners). I do the same for the combined character/role image and I also made the rectangle to hold the card list for the role card version nice by filling it in with black and also adding the PACG logo.
That way I have a single "card" once I take my role card.
I even went so far to develop a custom template in Microsoft Publisher for laying them out and printing them.
Every time I share this information, it makes me question whether I'm too into this game....Nah.
Every time I share this information, it makes me question whether I'm too into this game....Nah.
Nah, you just have more resources to support your passion :)
That's a lot of effort, Hawk.
I just use clear sleeves and wet/dry erase marker. I print out character sheets for between sessions if I need a more permanent record.
I've got it down to a decently quick process now. It probably takes about 5 minutes per card to get them to the point of being in the publisher template. Then it only takes about 2 minutes per card to cut and glue. I usually make about 3 copies of each so I have some for future games.
It does take some effort, but it is totally worth it for me. I like how they feel and look. And I like that they are a permanent record for me (and the other players) to keep.
I was just browsing a Massdrop deal for Ultra-Pro deck protectors (here's the linky if you're interested - I stand to gain nothing by sharing....) when a thought hit me.
Never heard of Massdrop before and it got me interested, but the shipping cost outside of US just put me off. They have pretty good deals, though.
OK I'm the lazy one here.
I just print the character sheets available on Paizo's site, and we all play with those sheets. Top Ten list Why :
10- You can cross skill, power and card boxes without ruining your cards.
9- Did I say i was just lazy?
8- Less time to print/cut/glue cards, more time to play.
7- Gets a nice RPG feel to it, which is key for grumpy old men like me.
6- No chance to actually shuffle the character cards in the wrong deck in the box when storing the game (don't tell me you never found a weapon once when drawing for an ally).
5- You can draw mustaches to the Seoni portrait, which is a mandatory down-time killer when you are out of blessings to help whoever is playing her turn on the other side of the table, bragging because she has 5 allies left to reexplore.
4- You get that unique one time opportunity to just rip the paper off whenever this #@#¤$ game will finally kill your character (OK never happend to me, not in a hurry to try).
3- You can keep it and print another one when you character retires and you 20 year old daughter asks you if she can start that character again from scratch so she can teach you how it was supposed to be played.
2- Plenty of room to include the 4657 errata finally approved by Vic (just kidding).
1- And last but not least : much easier to read for my old elvish eyes.
OK not perfect though... cause you have to find Letter format paper rather than A4 in order to get those #@#¤$ character sheets in that #@#¤$ game box, and that in Paris is way much more difficult than defeating an AP6 villain with only a FAQed Dagger and a Blessing of Hawkmoon
Speaking as one of the younger generation as well (I'm 24), the temptation to do #3 can be overwhelming sometimes. I laughed.
|
|
Hawk, your post doesn't surprise me at all. I've seen (and religiously used) your sleeve-ins. :)
I don't care for the sheets, personally, because we often play on fold-up tables at our FLGS, and there's already a dearth of table real estate.
As for sleeves, I just go ahead and use a gold Sharpie on my Ultra-Pro. I mean, how much do those cost, really?
|
OK not perfect though... cause you have to find Letter format paper rather than A4 in order to get those #@#¤$ character sheets in that #@#¤$ game box, and that in Paris is way much more difficult than defeating an AP6 villain with only a FAQed Dagger and a Blessing of Hawkmoon
Si tu veux une conversion Letter -> A4 je peux te faire ça rapidement ;)
OK not perfect though... cause you have to find Letter format paper rather than A4 in order to get those #@#¤$ character sheets in that #@#¤$ game box, and that in Paris is way much more difficult than defeating an AP6 villain with only a FAQed Dagger and a Blessing of HawkmoonSi tu veux une conversion Letter -> A4 je peux te faire ça rapidement ;)
Merci LudwigO, mais je me débrouille pas trop mal en fait - c'était juste pour faire bisquer our dear american friends.
I just print out a character sheet, I don't even use the character cards.
And the letter/A4 thing gets me too because I'm a non-American living in America. Always have to have their own standards.
Frencois: Je suis américaine et je ne comprends pas "le standard américain." Par exemple, papier 8.5" x 11", système impérial, etc. Aussi, désolé pour le mauvais français.
Actually it's very good French. Certainly better than my English sometimes. Now the fun irony from you non-metric guys, was that when Gygax created D&D, he managed to design a medieval fantasy world where 1 platinum = 10 golds = 100 silver = 1000 copper. Meaning whereas on this side of the pond with moved from Middle-Age chaos to modern metric, it now seems that you just went reverse...
Now don't feel bad : when we play Pathfinder RPG in France we all take "free five feet steps" each round in English "dans le texte".Because fortunately nobody tried to recalculate in metrics all ranges/distances defined in the game... And we have to leave something to our UK friends else they would insist that cavaliers ride horses on the wrong side of the road.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
That sure isn't a minor layout change.
|
|
Frencois: Je suis américaine et je ne comprends pas "le standard américain." Par exemple, papier 8.5" x 11", système impérial, etc. Aussi, désolé pour le mauvais français.Actually it's very good French. Certainly better than my English sometimes. Now the fun irony from you non-metric guys, was that when Gygax created D&D, he managed to design a medieval fantasy world where 1 platinum = 10 golds = 100 silver = 1000 copper. Meaning whereas on this side of the pond with moved from Middle-Age chaos to modern metric, it now seems that you just went reverse...
Now don't feel bad : when we play Pathfinder RPG in France we all take "free five feet steps" each round in English "dans le texte".
Because fortunately nobody tried to recalculate in metrics all ranges/distances defined in the game... And we have to leave something to our UK friends else they would insist that cavaliers ride horses on the wrong side of the road.
While I'm glad they didn't recalculate to metric, I wish they just changed feet to meters.
"I take a 5 meter step"
"WHAT?"
"I'm 5 meters wide, I'm massive, is it that hard to believe I have a 5 meter step?"
|
|
Knight Argent, the change you suggest only helps for sleeves, and only in one way. In other ways, and completely for the players who don't sleeve (which is who the game should be geared towards, not an expectation to sleeve the game), it causes problems. What do you need to know during gameplay? Your dice and your powers. So what do you out on the same side of the card so you aren't constantly flipping? Your dice and your powers.
"I'm 5 meters wide, I'm massive, is it that hard to believe I have a 5 meter step?"
Lol
|
|
If you don't sleeve, you will have two cards face up in front of you, both with your powers listed. That's redundant and confusing. It would be better if you could hide the powers section of your Character card once you attained your Role card.
Maybe there's a way to reformat the skill block to fit on the Role cards? That way, they can replace the front of the Character card when the time comes.
Hell, that opens up the possibility for skill dice to change with Roles in future sets!
|
|
Sure it'd be redundant, but how is that any worse than having useless info midgame like your card feats? It really shouldn't be that confusing that if you have your role card, that's where you reference your powers.
As for fitting skills and role powers, the font would be either too small to read, or a different sized card, to be able to fit it which is even worse than having it as it is now or your initial suggestion.
If you don't sleeve, you will have two cards face up in front of you, both with your powers listed. That's redundant and confusing. It would be better if you could hide the powers section of your Character card once you attained your Role card.
Maybe there's a way to reformat the skill block to fit on the Role cards? That way, they can replace the front of the Character card when the time comes.
Hell, that opens up the possibility for skill dice to change with Roles in future sets!
???
You just put the role card over the character card so that the role card covers the power section of the character card. How is that so hard?Your role card is designed so you can place it directly over the Powers section of your character card.
I get that you want to see all the information you have face up at all times, but doing it your way makes it even more troublesome if you don't have your role card yet.
Just do what Hawkmoon suggested, that way you have everything in one card, face up.
|
|
That sure isn't a minor layout change.
I'm not a graphic designer, so I'm sure I don't understand the implications. I committed the same sin my clients do to me - trivializing the work. I did not intend to suggest that I knew how much work it would take - simply that the concept seemed simple. My apologies.
Ah trivializing other people's work, the one thing we all hate done to us that we all do someone else at some point :)
Yes like we would never dream of challenging Mike's work and interfer with it ;-)
In this case, it's not my work. It's the excellent work of Sarah Robinson, Sonja Morris, Andrew Vallas, Ben Mouch, and Emily Crowell, whose graphic design talents you see on the game every day. And they would be not at all happy if just told them to swap two major components of the cards they had just spent weeks laying out.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
... It's the excellent work of Sarah Robinson, Sonja Morris, Andrew Vallas, Ben Mouch, and Emily Crowell...
Praise, respect, bravos and Kudos to them all.
|
I recall several people complaining about the layout of this or that type of boon or bane when Runelords first came out. The vocal minority has left, and unless I'm mistaken the game still sells, proving wrong those who said that the very functional design of the cards was wrong / bad / ineffective / confusing / whatever.
IMO the character cards are fine the way they are. You need the skills + powers to play the character, and having those all on one side is pretty key to being able to recall your character's possibilities at a glance.